Excerpt from Speech of the Hon. James E. Cooley: Before the Democracy of Syracuse, in Mass Meeting Assembled, on Tuesday Evening, Nov; 1, 1853

The answer to these important inquiries - deeply important to every patriotic citizen of this State - is, I doubt not, at this moment, upon the lip of every intelligent man now within the sound of my voice. You will say with one united voice - with one great, earnest, harmonious tone - with a sound that will echo to the utmost verge of the State, in all directions, in' all places, and at all times, that your prosperity has been, and must continue to be, attributable to the great Erie Canal! It is, indeed, to be attributed to that Herculean enterprise. Had not that canal been constructed, it is not, I venture to say, too much to assert, that this city would never have existed! Had the enemies of the immortal Clinton succeeded in their fiend ish hostility to his enlightened and patriotic plans of internal improvements, this spot, where we now stand - the surround ing country in all directions - the rich Genesee valley, and the wheat growing plains of the central and western sections of the State, now so populous, so highly cultivated, so rich, and so prosperous, would have mostly remained to this day, like the dense forests of the northern counties, in a state of primi tive grandeur and gloom! Here, but for the construction of that noble, State-enriching public work - that great civilizing instrument - which has subdued the wild regions of the west and filled them with populous towns - which has diffused a healthful fragrance throughout the land and given unparalleled Vigor, animation and enterprise to our people, the untamed Indian might yet bask him in the sullen majesty of impenetra ble seclusion - the monarch of a woody waste. Yes, my fellow citizens, strange as it may seem to some, and doubtful perhaps to others, who have contested, and will contest against the in ternal improvements of this State, which have enriched and benefited every department of trade, had Clinton, through the wicked persecutions which he suffered for more than a quarter of a century, from the enemies of internal improvements, failed of convincing the people of their perfect prac ticability and advantage to the public interest, the Erie canal might never have been achieved; and this fertile section of country, now the scene of so much commercial, manufacturing and agricultural activity and Opulence, might have continued comparatively uninhabited, uncultivated, and unredeemed, for many long years. The shores of the great inland seas of the west, and the borders of the large navigable streams north and south, much of which still remains unoccupied, would all have been settled long ago. That part of the State bordering the St. Lawrence, which is now but sparsely populated, would have presented a more inviting prospect to the interests of the farmer, the manufacturer, and the merchant, than this, had the Erie canal not been constructed. The country bordering the St. Lawrence naturally looks down that noble river to a market - to an easy, cheap, and direct communication with Montreal, Quebec, and with foreign countries, through the connection of that stream, navigable for vessels of all sizes, with the Atlantic Ocean. This fine river is the natural outlet of the great and increasing commerce of the west, draining vast productive territories in the north, as does the Mississippi on the south.

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